Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (June 13/05) - By next Christmas every school in Nunavut will be recording student and teacher activities in all public areas, 24 hours a day.

Public concern after incidents of vandalism and arson, including several school fires, in recent years prompted the government's move, said Lorne Levy, the Department of Education's manager of capital planning.

Terry Young, principal of Inuksuk high school in Iqaluit, stands by the monitors from closed circuit television cameras. The school has about 30 cameras in public areas, but none in bathrooms or classrooms. By Christmas every school in Nunavut will have cameras installed. Young says they have helped reduce vandalism in the school. - Daniel T'seleie/NNSL photo

The first cameras were installed in Iqaluit schools last summer. Cameras are now being installed in some schools in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions.

The remaining communities in the Baffin region and throughout Nunavut will be equipped last.

The intent is not to prosecute vandals, says Levy.

"It's a deterrent approach," he said.

The cameras do keep students from breaking laws and school policy, says Terry Young, principal of Inuksuk high school in Iqaluit.

"I feel we've had less vandalism. I feel we've had less problems," he said.

Inuksuk has around 30 cameras, more than any other school in Iqaluit

As per Department of Education policy, they record only in public areas, not in washrooms or classrooms.

A television in his office allows Young to monitor the cameras.

Digital recordings from any of the cameras can be recalled for up to 21 days before it is automatically erased.

It is the same system every school in Nunavut will eventually have.

The territorial initiative was supported by every District Education Authority in Nunavut, said Levy. Consultation of students met "very little opposition," Young said.

Some students at Inuksuk still feel the cameras are an extraneous measure.

"I'm not into cameras," said Elee Kango, who does not like being watched.

"It's definitely not a good idea," said Karielle Mackey. "There's no point in having them."

Both students agree, awareness of the cameras has helped reduce vandalism in public areas, but Mackey says this just pushes illicit activity to spots that are not monitored.

"It's not going to stop them from (vandalizing)," Mackey said.

Bathrooms are already a target for vandalism in Gjoa Haven's Qiqirtaq school, said principal Ian Critchley.

The school does not have cameras, but they should be in place by the end of the summer.

Administrators will have to be "vigilant" in checking tapes to see who has entered and left bathrooms, and other un-monitored areas, in time periods during which they were vandalized, said Critchley.

The tapes will help prove who committed the act of vandalism, but he is unsure how effective legal action will be in changing young peoples lives.

Cameras will help reduce vandalism, though, Critchley said.

After an alarm system was installed at the school two years ago, "the incidents of break-ins dropped dramatically," he said.

While he supports the use of cameras as an administrator, he is "not personally in great favour of them." Some students at the school have objections to the cameras, Critchley said.

Some may consider surveillance to be an invasion of privacy, but as long as the public is given notice this is not the case, said Margaret Joyce, superintendent of schools for Kitikmeot School Operations.

"We have (cameras) in other places. We put cameras in airports," Joyce said.

Video monitoring is not just useful for deterring or identifying vandals, Joyce said.

A fire, such as the electrical blaze which consumed Joamie school in Iqaluit, could be caught in its earlier stages if noticed on real-time video.

Vandalism deterrent

The cameras are not a case of "big brother watching," said Bill Cooper, vice-principal of Jonah Amitnaaq school in Baker Lake.

"You're not going to find people sitting in front of the camera monitors," Cooper said.

The cameras act as a deterrent, Cooper said, and school property needs to be protected.

"These buildings are like community centres. They're huge assets," Cooper said.

Even a broken window, which is dependent on shipping seasons to replace, could ruin educational opportunities for students and recreation for the whole community, Cooper said.

Jonah Amitnaaq school, which is in its first year of operation, has cameras already installed.

There has not been any concern from the students about being monitored, Cooper said.

Reduced insurance

Equipping Nunavut schools with the cameras will cost the government $1,250,000 said Levy.

It may reduce insurance rates for school buildings, now considered a high risk by the government's insurance company.

The Department of Education pays a $10 million deductible on school buildings, Levy said.